Another San Francisco Flower
&
amp; Garden Show has come and gone, but this year
’s show was so “Florapolitan” that I just had to devote a column
to it. “Florapolitan,” of course, is a made-up term, but it does
aptly describe the California gardening universe.
Another San Francisco Flower & Garden Show has come and gone, but this year’s show was so “Florapolitan” that I just had to devote a column to it. “Florapolitan,” of course, is a made-up term, but it does aptly describe the California gardening universe.
We Californians, thanks partially to the great year-round gardening weather in most of the state (including ours), is a place that’s just oozing creativity. Our gardens are so decidedly avant garde, and oh, so, florapolitan.
The 24 life-size gardens on the main floor room of the San Francisco show are always spectacular. But for the home gardener, the Plant Market Place is always a favorite because that’s where we can buy things. The market place featured everything from mosaic stepping stones and elaborate play structures to live plants and, yes, even fake plants.
Of course, these fake plants looked so real you had to touch them to make sure. A featured item this year was the coiled watering hose. There were at least three or four different manufacturers of this compact watering hose that stores in a small space and refuses to become tangled and kinked since it’s coiled. One had the great name of the “Anaconda.”
But, for me, it was the real plants that got me going. For instance, I’ve been looking for black mondo grass (Ophlopogan nigreacana) for quite a while. And Proven Winners’ booth had them. However, the $25 price tag for a 6-inch pot was rather outlandish. I was much more pleased with the golden variegated sweet flag (Acorus gramineus) for $6 apiece in the same 6-inch size.
Blooming, 4-inch potted sunflowers at three for $12 was a great deal, and dahlias for $5 each were good, considering some of those flowers were dinner-plate size at 10 inches across. And, even though the price was steep at $25 for a one-gallon can, I had to have Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick (Corylus avellana ‘Conforta’). This is an odd-looking plant in the hazelnut family that features gnarled, crooked and zig-zaggity branches. So contorted are the branches that they make San Francisco’s Lombard Street look straight.
Also, if you have an old, beat-up watering can somewhere in your garden, save it. There was a guy selling them at $25 each, rust included.
Finally, I must mention the main floor garden with a local connection. “The Source of Rejuvenation” was put together by All Points Landscape and Central Coast Nursery, both of Morgan Hill, with design by Van de Voorde Landscape Architecture in Boulder Creek.
This two-tiered garden was an artistic exploration of the reflective qualities of water. The upper terrace featured a black-bottom, vanishing-edge pool that spilled into the lower garden via a shimmering copper water wall. Great fun.
Have you always wanted to know more about roses or the Heritage Rose Garden in San Jose? Join the Friends of Guadalupe River and Garden’s docents for a tour during some of the best viewing days for the garden every Monday in May at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., execpt May 26.
All tours will start at the center of the Heritage Rose Garden located near Spring and Taylor Street. The cost is $3 per person, payable at the start of each tour. No reservations are necessary and free parking is available on Taylor Street. Details: ed*******@**pg.org or 298-7657.
Keith Muraoka lives and works in Gilroy. His award-winning column has been in this newspaper since 1984. E-mail him at: ga********@*ps.net, or write him in c/o Morgan Hill Times, P.O. Box 757, Morgan Hill, CA 95038.
